New artificial intelligence product can help Arizona firefighters detect wildfires

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Artificial intelligence is providing an eye in the sky for firefighters. “This is not a fire truck, this is not the typical hoses or what have you,” said Todd Isackson, who works for the AI company Alchera.

Arizona native Isackson is looking to bring AI to the state to help crews quickly spot and battle wildfires. “For us it’s all about that early warning and fire detection.” Their product is already being put to the task in California, Nevada, Australia, and South Korea. The way it works is multiple cameras are set up in areas where the fire crew wants to monitor, such as overlooking areas with lots of trees. The AI is programmed to locate smoke from a fire and then alert firefighters of the potential danger, all in under a minute. It can even find multiple fires at the same time. The AI then shares the location and can even send a video of what it saw.

Isackson said they developed this to help crews get to wildfires faster day or night. “You can’t have people constantly at nighttime scanning. That’s what our AI is made to do; it’s looking for the fire all the time,” he said.

The company said they are already in talks with multiple fire agencies in Arizona, including the Bureau of Land Management. “This to me is another element and it’s an element that gives speed. This will send an alert out to that first responder usually with in a minute and can be rolling their trucks out to that fire event.”

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